ODST: Hell-zone
by Abyss Kurokari
Summary: Alan Verne, one of the UNSC's best snipers, is relocated to a base on Harvest, called Crimson Peak... and something happens that brings memories long forgotten back to him. as a child he was the only survivor on the ship Righteous Cause, which was attacked by the Flood. now he must relive that horrifying experience on Harvest. rated T for mild language
1. Chapter 1

A/N: hello everyone! This is Abyss Kurokari's second Fanfiction, this one is about Halo Wars! Or more specifically, a single team of Orbital Drop Shock Troops, Alpha Company, who encounter the flood first hand, and the main character, Alan, has quite a history with them. Without further ado, let's kick this story off with a bang!

Chapter 1: The New Addition

"No, Cody, you're still the rookie."

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A single Pelican aircraft made its way across the barren terrain of Harvest, carrying the newest addition to Alpha Company. He was to be added as the sniper to the already formidable team. As the Pelican approached the base this man would call home from now on, he read over his instructions, direct from the commander of the U.N.S.C.'s operations on Harvest. His instructions were simple enough, simply join Alpha Company and assist in any combat they experienced. No more than ten minutes later, the Pelican landed at Alpha Company's home base of operations, a large outpost called Crimson Peak. As this man, named Alan Verne, got off the Pelican, he was met with two of his new team members. One very tall man wearing medical symbols, and the team's sergeant, Ann Blake.

"Alan Verne, reporting for duty." Alan saluted his superior with his mechanical arm; he had lost his arm in combat with a flood parasite. "Welcome to Alpha Company, warrant officer Verne. I'm Ann Blake. You're going to be working under my command now. If you'll follow me down to the firing range, we'll see just what you've got. Don't disappoint us."

The three ODSTs walked into the firing range, and Alan saw one young man wearing ODST armor, using a battle rifle in a very serious looking test, in a room where holograms of various Covenant were attacking him. He took the last of the elites down and exited the simulator, and walked over to the three other ODSTs. After a quick salute to Ann, he looked at the unusually colored armor of the newest member of the team… normally the armor of ODSTs was black, but Alan's was dark purple. "So, you're the new member of our team? YES! Finally I'm not the rookie anymore!" Ann adopted a serious face. "No, Cody, you're still the rookie. Warrant officer Verne here has actual battlefield experience. You don't." Cody's happiness died faster than most grunts do. Ann moved to the control terminal and called Alan over. "You're good with Sniper rifles, right?" Alan looked at the weapons lining the wall. "Yes ma'am. I've specialized in close quarters combat as well as precision weapons." Ann removes her helmet, letting her long, blonde hair fall down past her shoulders. "Alright, then pick up two weapons you've got skills with and get in the simulator. I'll start you off easy, but I want to see just how good you are." Alan picked up a sniper rifle and three clips, and a shotgun with twelve extra shells. He also removed a combat knife from a sheath that was built into his left shoulder's armor, quickly sharpened it, and put it back into its sheath. He walked into the simulator and turned around to face the control panel. Ann pressed three buttons then spoke into a microphone that played her voice over speakers into the simulator. "In the first level, you'll be dealing with jackals and grunts. Think you can manage that?" Alan simply nodded. Ann continued, "If you get hit with the holograms' weapons, you'll receive a little shock to show you where it came from. Ready? Begin."

Two grunts and a jackal appeared in the simulation. Alan took out his sniper rifle and shot one of the grunts in the head, and then the bullet ricocheted back and hit the jackal in the back of its leg. Alan swapped weapons and blasted the jackal with a shotgun shell, then dodged two shots from the last grunt's plasma pistol, and then he ran up to it, front flipped over it and shoved the shotgun in its face and pulled the trigger. Alan walked back over to the starting point, and looked at Ann, who was pressing buttons. Alan spoke up. "Take me up a few levels. I want a challenge." Ann's face told everyone she was more than a little angry at his statement. She turned the level up by ten levels, two levels higher than even she was able to beat. Alan was startled when four elites, two jackals, and two hunters appeared just meters away from himself. He pulled out the shotgun and ran up to one of the elites and blasted its face off, then another, then another… then a hunter ran at him and swung its massive shield at him, but Alan dive-rolled to the left and fired two shells into its midsection, wounding it but not killing it. Alan got to his feet and switched to his sniper rifle and fired one shot, which hit its mark, the last elite, right between the eyes. As the elite fell dead, Alan was struck with three plasma bolts from one of the jackals' plasma pistols. A surge of pain went up his back. He turned to face the jackals, and took them both out with one well-placed sniper rifle round. Then he turned to face the hunters, and just BARELY avoided a fuel rod shot. He switched to his shotgun and ran up to the hunter closest to himself and dodged a shield swing and fired two shells into the hunter's midsection, and the hunter toppled to the ground. Now only one hunter remained, and it went into a frenzy, charged at Alan, and swung its shield twice, but missed both times. Then, Alan did something unexpected. He threw down his shotgun and started climbing the back of the hunter, using the spine like extensions of the hunter's back armor as a way to hold on, and then he pulled the combat knife out and buried it in the hunter's "head", which caused the hunter to shriek in pain. Then, Alan pulled out his sniper rifle and fired one shot into the hunter's back, and just like that, the last hunter fell to the ground, dead. Alan retrieved his combat knife and walked out of the simulator. "No offense Ma'am, but why did you do that? That was more than a little bit uncalled for." Ann just walked right past him, without saying a single word. Cody walked up to Alan and placed one hand on his shoulder. "She's just upset because you showed her up. You just beat her record for levels passed on the simulator. Alan smiled to himself. If that was all it took for her to get mad, she'd likely be mad at him constantly. Cody stretched himself out and looked at his PDA, then at Alan. "Want to go get something to eat? Today's the day of the week we get to have pizza!" Alan nodded and followed Cody towards the cafeteria. As he walked he thought to himself, _"This is gonna be the easiest assignment ever"… he couldn't have been more wrong._


	2. Chapter 2

As Alan made his way to the cafeteria with Cody, he struck up a conversation with him.

"So, you're not familiar with live combat, are you?"

Cody looked embarrassed. "No… I've only ever seen combat in the simulator… but I've reached a high level in that thing, so I'm pretty confident about my skills."

Alan shook his head. "You don't have any idea how much more difficult live combat is than simulations… we can try to simulate what the Covies will do in combat, but they're actually very, very hard to comprehend."

Cody looked over his shoulder at Alan. "Really?"

Alan chuckled. "Yeah, I've even had to deal with honor guards before."

Cody stopped and turned towards Alan. "Honor guards? What are those?"

Alan crossed his arms. "Elites, trained with swords and given super-enhanced armor. They serve as the prophet's bodyguards, or in some cases, a distraction so a prophet can get away."

Cody and Alan resumed walking.

As they talked they entered the cafeteria, Alan looked around. There was easily enough space and enough seats for a hundred soldiers, but only about 20 were present. He figured there were likely enough people stationed at Crimson Peak to fill the cafeteria. He got in line and got a couple slices of pizza, then sat down at the ODST table with Cody. Alan took his helmet off and scratched his short, dark blonde hair, before noticing Ann entering the cafeteria.

"Hey, Cody… What's the deal with the sergeant? Why does she get mad so easily?"

Cody laughed. "I'm not sure... But you'll get used to it eventually."

Just then, an alarm went off, and everyone in the cafeteria scrambled into action. Alan followed Cody through the base and into a hangar, where the rest of his team was waiting. Ann addressed the ODSTs. "One of our outposts was just destroyed by the Covenant, and there are several survivors that are pinned down just north of there. Our main objective is to rescue the survivors, and we are to take back the area around the destroyed outpost. Everyone board the Frigate."

Alan grabbed a sniper rifle and a magnum and did as instructed.

The ODST frigate took off and went west, towards the destroyed outpost. Alan climbed into a Drop Pod and waited. He looked across the drop pod bay and noticed Cody loading up a battle rifle and smiling. Alan activated his radio and asked, "What are you so happy about, Cody?"

Cody jumped at the sudden sound, but then responded, "I'm just excited to get my first real live combat experience."

Alan chuckled. "Just make sure you don't get shot up too badly."

Cody was just about to say something when a soldier walked past and checked the drop pods, then said "alright, we're nearing the drop zone. Everyone get ready."

Cody swallowed nervously and waited. Alan prepared his drop pod and waited.

"Dropping in five… three, two, one."

All the drop pods launched towards the planet below… Cody shouted "WOOHOO!" over his intercom.

Alan chuckled and gripped the handles inside the drop pod.

Thirty seconds later, the pods crashed to the ground very close to the destroyed outpost. Alan pulled the door release and kicked the door off his pod, then climbed out, feeling slightly dizzy due to how long it had been since he last dropped. He pulled out his magnum and made his way towards the last known location of the survivors, as he was instructed.

He realized along the way that there were very few covenant around, he shot two grunts along the way, but they didn't even fight back. They seemed to be scared of something…

Alan finally saw the three marines in a crater, next to what seemed to be a large meteorite. He approached and was met with one of them reaching his hand out at him and shouting, "Stay back you infected bastard!" Alan was confused. "Infected? With what?" the soldier was shaking violently for a few seconds, and then he collapsed to the ground. Alan ran up to him and knelt beside him, checking for a pulse.

Suddenly, the soldier's arm split into three long tentacle-like appendages. Alan fell flat on his back and pushed himself away from the mutation.

"NO!… NO NO NO NO NO!" he shouted as the soldier stood up and began changing, making gurgling noises he imagined a person would make if they had been shot in the throat. He pulled out his magnum and pointed it at the mutating soldier. The soldier slowly turned towards Alan, and made a horrible, spine chilling shrieking sound. Alan opened fire and ended up blowing off both of the creature's arms. The monster then slowly walked towards Alan for a few seconds before exploding and releasing something Alan was all too familiar with… A Flood parasite. He fired three shots at the gelatinous, octopus-like creature, before it exploded.

Just then, Cody walked up behind Alan, who heard the footsteps and spun to face Cody, weapon pointed directly at his face.

"GAH! Cody! Don't scare me like that!"

Cody's face looked confused, but it was hidden by his helmet. "How did I scare you? It's not like you have to worry about us humans trying to kill you…"

Alan shook his head. "If only that were true…" Cody was now VERY confused.

Alan opened an open communication channel and broadcasted the ODST's S.O.S. along with a message. "All troops please respond! We have a major problem! Please respond!"

Ann answered first. "What seems to be the problem warrant officer Verne?" Alan's voice was shaky and nervous. "I made contact with the survivors, but they were infected with flood parasites! We need an evac immediately!"

Suddenly Cody's voice rang out, and it was loud enough to be broadcast through Alan's mic. "LOOK OUT MAN! WHAT IS THAT THING!?"

Gunfire followed. The sound of spine chilling shrieking and gunfire was all that could be heard. After nearly thirty seconds, the radio went silent.

Alan's voice continued over the mic. "There seems to be some infected still wandering the area, use extreme caution and keep your guard up, please respond if you copy." Ann's voice came through the intercom. "I copy. Thanks for the heads up Verne. All ODST under my command, rendezvous at the north entrance to the destroyed outpost for immediate evac."

The other team members' status lights blinked green, and Alan sighed relievedly. He turned to Cody and walked up to him.

"I don't know how she can be so calm with the flood on harvest."

Cody surveyed the mutated bodies and nearly threw up in his helmet. "These things are FLOOD?!"

Alan nodded and reloaded his magnum. "We need to meet up with the rest of our team, before something happens to them."

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A/N: I hope to be able to update this story once every two weeks, but it's not certain that I can make that happen. Nevertheless, I aim to update as frequently as I can, but I'm splitting my time between this story and my other fanfiction, "Dust: Fate of the Future". Please be patient with me. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Alan and Cody made their way towards the destroyed outpost, watching carefully for any more Flood hosts. As they approached the outpost, they noticed a concentration of Flood centered on the outpost. Alan pulled out his sniper rifle and looked through the scope, surveying the area around the rendezvous point.

"It looks like they're most active around the outpost… Probably searching for more hosts that may have survived the base's destruction"

Cody put his hand on the back of his helmet. "So what do we do?"

Alan looked over his shoulder. "We clear them out."

Cody shook his head. "No way man, the Covenant is one thing, but I don't want to have to deal with the Flood."

Alan played his trump card. "Okay then, I'll get rid of them, and you can stay here at the top of the hill… All. By. Yourself.

Cody pulled out his assault rifle. "Fine, I'll help."

Alan and Cody made their way to the bottom of the hill, and readied themselves for a fight.

Alan looked at Cody. "I'll try to thin their numbers with some well-placed sniper rifle rounds"

Cody nodded. Alan pulled his rifle off his back and took aim at one Flood host, then pulled the trigger. The bullet embedded itself in the Flood's chest, and damaged the soft body of the parasite inside, which caused it to die immediately. He repeated the action about ten times, before he quickly switched to his magnum.

"They're on to us! Get ready!"

Cody swallowed nervously, but raised his weapon. Three flood hosts appeared over a hill and sprinted towards the ODSTs. Cody and Alan waited for them to get within range, and then opened fire. In no time the three hosts were defeated and fell dead. Alan turned towards Cody. "Nice job Cody- oh SHIT!" he quickly pulled his combat knife out and threw it over Cody's shoulder, and it buried itself in the midsection of a host that was right behind Cody. This didn't kill it, but it made it stumble back long enough for Cody to turn around and empty half his clip into it.

Alan retrieved his knife. "We need to be more careful."

Cody reloaded his weapon. "Yeah, we really do."

The two of them made their way down to the north entrance of the outpost, and saw Ann and the team's medic waiting there. As they walked up to their comrades, Ann stood up from sitting on a boulder. "Where have you two been? We've been waiting."

Alan looked back in the direction he and Cody came from. "I'm surprised you haven't seen any of those monsters. We had to deal with a bunch of them. Cody almost got killed."

Ann sits back down. "Oh, I see… Well it's good you made it here unharmed. We have a pelican en-route to this location to pick us up, but we haven't seen Jack or Jaycen… I hope they're alright."

Alan crossed his arms. "I know how the Flood work, I suspect he's been killed if he was traveling alone."

Ann crossed her arms. "How do you know how the Flood work?"

Alan reached into a pocket on his armor and pulled out a set of dog tags. "I was the only survivor of the incident on the Righteous Cause. I watched as the whole ship was overrun by these things, and the only reason I survived was because the owner of these tags, a Spartan, stayed behind to cover my escape. I also saw something unusual on that ship. Some massive thing that called itself "Gravemind". It personally addressed me and the Spartan and told us it was able to control the other parasites. It knew my name… it said it was because it had assimilated my parents. I barely made it off the ship alive, and I lost my right arm to one of the parasites."

Ann removed her helmet and scratched her head. "Well, you've been through a lot with the Flood then..."

Alan turned away and scanned the tops of the hills. "Hey, what's that?" he pointed to a large mass of movement in the distance. He activated his helmet's zoom function, and saw Jack, running for his life from about ten of the Flood's hosts.

"SHIT! Everyone get ready, we've got company!" in no more than ten seconds everyone was ready to take on the Flood.

Just as Jack got close, one of the parasites jumped over him and landed in his way, and struck him with its tentacle like appendages. Ann shouted, "JACK!"

Alan pulled out his magnum in his right hand and his knife in his left. "Here they come!"

The flood hosts swarmed towards the four remaining ODSTs. Gunfire rang out and one by one, the hosts fell dead. One of them rushed at Ann, who was preoccupied with fighting a different host, and suddenly a plasma grenade flew past everyone and stuck to the flood host running towards her, then exploded, vaporizing everything except the host's feet. Another ODST ran in and pulled out a shotgun and began blasting hosts. He pretty much singlehandedly finished off the flood.

Ann looked at him. "About time you showed up, Jaycen."

Just then, the pelican arrived, flying over a hill and landing just a few meters away. The five remaining ODSTs climbed in and the pelican took off towards Crimson Peak. All of them were completely silent until Alan looked out the back of the Pelican and shouted, "Hey! Guys, look!"

Everyone looked, and saw a massive meteorite, with not just hundreds, but _thousands _of parasites swarming out of it.

Alan's mind wandered back to the events that took place the day he lost his parents to the parasites. "There's so many of them…"


End file.
